My Everything Corner

I don't notice the cold when the cold looks like this. I can't feel the freezing in this wonderland of bliss. Winter, knowing His visit can be quite unpleasant... Once in awhile, offers this exquisite present.                    Andrea Ostapovitch

For those of us connected on Instagram, this will be a repeat performance in photos. How is December treating you thus far?  As per our family's tradition, we all get colds to varying degrees.  But so far, the illness has been mild as has the weather and so December has been mostly quite joyful.  After my daughter's 16th birthday this past weekend, I put the tree up and have worked my way through wrapping quite a few gifts, a job that continues today, along with decorating the rest of the house.  Then the baking begins. Now there, in the baking department, I must file a complaint. Why have the mint chocolate chips disappeared off the shelf?  I have a recipe of whipped shortbread with mint chips that we simply cannot live without! I haven't attempted it yet, but I intend to make my own.  If you have any experience at all in the art of making flavoured chocolate chips, please share your knowledge.  I would be most grateful. Besides the shortbrea...

Hi everyone! I hope you've all had a wonderful Fall and are enjoying preparing for the holidays.  I don't want to spend too much time complaining, but we had the most miserable fall in memory. I do try to not allow the weather to affect my mood, but my goodness, all that snow and freezing in September really did dampen my spirits. Aside from that, I've been having fun teaching myself to knit, and I'll have to get some project photos up soon. I just wanted to drop in and share this sweet photo of my kitty and wave a happy hello to you all.

Spiders are common, very common.  For a lot of people, and I'm sorry if you're one of them, spiders are far too common.  One of the most prevalent types of spiders are orb weavers. What is rare about the arachnid I took a photo of was the size and the unique shape.  What a beauty! I understand if you can't get past the creepiness factor, but I just love how this photo turned out. I love birds of all sorts, but I am especially fascinated with our crows and ravens.  I'm always happy to have my camera handy when they're around.

There's nothing like birds to bring life and cheerfulness to our landscapes.  In the winter, birds are scarce on the prairies and I can hardly wait for Spring to arrive so welcome them all back. Here are two photos of beautiful specimens.

This makes my day every time I see it.

There was a lot of shrill chirping in our yard this morning as these little fluffballs popped, one by one, of the confinement of their shells.  What a joy it was to watch it all unfold.  The proud, and very protective Daddy led his first two away from the nest as Mama finished up with the other two.  Let me tell you, that Daddy bird has a mouth on him!  He gave me the 'what-for' the entire time I was outside even when I was nowhere near them. I kept my distance, of course, but every ounce of me wanted to snuggle these little sweeties.  And as I heard the coyotes howling so nearby last night, I wished I could bring them all in and keep them safe.  Of course, they all made it through their first night, only to be led across the busy road to the pond on the other side. Just look at these adorable little critters! Before I get to the pictures, I have a quick question for my fellow bloggers.  I have tried to fix the problem, all of my settings ar...